Huawei just unveiled what it is contending is the world's thinnest smartphone, the Ascend P6, which measures just 6.18mm thick, or less than a quarter-inch.

The device features a 1.5 GHz quad-core processor, a metallic body, a 4.7-inch high-definition in-cell display and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The smartphone weighs just over 4 ounces and fits into small pockets. Android 4.2.2, Jelly Bean, operating system runs the phone and a 2000 mAh battery powers it.

Avi Greengart, principal analyst at Current Analysis, said the smartphone is indeed "incredibly, incredibly" thin and has decent stats.

"The phone offers a 2000 mAh battery even though the device is incredibly thin," Greengart said. "One of the reasons for that is that it's a 4.7-inch display. Huawei is able to fit a modest-sized battery in there. There's a quad-core 720p display so I don't know how good the battery life is going to be, but at least it's not a going to be a tiny battery."

Perfect for Selfies

Huawei said its Automated Discontinuous Reception and Quick Power Control battery optimization and power-saving technology improves performance by more than 30 percent compared with smartphone batteries of equal size. With its multi-screen AirSharing capability, users can connect to a range of devices to boost productivity.

Huawei said the device is perfect for "selfies" (pictures of yourself) with its front-facing camera and auto facial-enhancing capabilities. The phone also offers an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with f2.0 aperture and 4cm macro view, as well as 1080p full HD video recording and playback. Huawei has also pre-installed proprietary IMAGESmart software, which offers contrast and color enhancement, auto scene recognition, object tracing focus, and what it calls "instant facial beauty support."

Huawei's Emotion user interface has been improved, including updates to Uni-Home, Me Widget, MagicTouch and SmartReading. New to Huawei's Emotion UI are the panoramic shoot and facial recognition photography functions.

Is Thinner Really Better?

"Huawei is aggressively moving into phones that are designed to compete with Samsung and Sony and HTC, and to the same degree that every Android vendor is, Apple," Greengart said. "Obviously, a thin phone can feel good in your hands or it can feel flimsy. I have not gotten hands on with this one, but apparently it has an aluminum frame so initial reports indicate it doesn't feel like it's going to snap in half. Something this wafer thin certainly could feel that way."

Greengart said chasing the world's thinnest smartphone bragging rights is what companies do when they are trying to prove themselves. Samsung used to chase it but has since moved to promoting its software innovation.

"The Alcatel One Touch line also aims for 'world's thinnest' claims but the value proposition isn't about being thinnest, it's about being a highly designed phone at a modest price," Greengart said. "Huawei is not known for being premium priced, but they are trying to turn themselves into a premium brand, and what they are doing that with right now is hardware design."

The Ascend P6 is available in black, white and pink with matching color cases. It will begin shipping in China this month and to Western Europe in July through Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, H3G, O2, Carphone Warehouse, TalkTalk, Media Markt & Saturn, TIM and online via Amazon and CDiscount, with other markets to follow.